My social media dilemma
I’m not addicted to it – it just confuses the hell out of me and I’m not sure I need it for so-called marketing purposes
File under: Ludditism
It only gets more baffling by the day.
Meta is evil and nasty. Twitter X Shitter Xitter is worse and their algorithm suppresses stuff. Instagram is a fraud, full of cringeworthy ‘yay look at my life’ tomfoolery. TikTok causes brain rot. LinkedIn is full of broligarchs. Threads and Bluesky - what are those? Where’s mySpace?
HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!
What the hell are we supposed to do?
I wish it were a simple case of just deleting everything besides Substack. Or using simple email. Or going back to my blogspot days and my devoted band of merry followers. Or saying to hell with all this online malarkey altogether.
As
laments, “Society has all but abandoned our analog way of life.”On the other hand,
offers grounds for optimism:
A blast from the past
Who remembers the halcyon days of MySpace, barely 20 years ago? Anyone else fret over what musical selection to play for page visitors? Oh no, Suede are past it, ‘Animal Nitrate’ won’t work. Let’s try Interpol. Nah, too dark and introspective. Same for Jesus and Mary Chain. My Bloody Valentine? Hmm, maybe, a bit scratchy. Arcade Fire? Now we’re talking!
My god, what a dilemma that was - how agonising! If only that were the main source of angst facing us now.
The pressure is relentless: people are giving up on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc in droves, warning us about the insidious ways they spy on us, steal our data, allow horrible people a voice, spew venomous and nasty discourse, filter what we see, do away with fact-checking.
Everything is going cattywampus on us!
Substack isn’t immune from this discussion either, and even Spotify apparently has its issues, as
points out in the aptly named Clash homage, Do I stay or do I go?Nowhere is safe.
Much has already been said on this, all from people wiser, more articulate and more knowledgeable than me, so all I can add is my own personal [selfish] take on it and the dilemmas I face.
Far from giving up on social media, I think I need to embrace Instagram more and – welp – it might be time for me to dive into the cesspit of TikTok.
As for LinkedIn, an embarrassing (maybe?) confession, especially from a wastrel like me who’s been unemployed for way too long: I don’t understand it at all. I only set up a half-assed profile a couple of months ago and whenever I do look and plan on updating it, I get overwhelmed and confused and quickly log off. This is probably an unwise approach for anyone seeking gainful employment.
You see? I’m fucking clueless here.
Yeah, yeah I sound like a cranky old Gen Xer, I know. I don’t care, I’m just trying to make sense of it all and it befuddles a fuddy-duddy like me.
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you
I ought to be careful in bashing social media. I need it more than it needs me. But I still can’t resist.
As Morgan Housel says:
“Social media makes more sense when you view it as a place people go to perform rather than a place to communicate.”
“What would Instagram look like if it were an honest reflection of people’s life, instead of a curated highlight reel?”
I would love to say to hell with Facebook and Instagram and just hang around in lovely old Substack, but alas…
I’m sticking with them for now for book marketing purposes, even if I do so little of it. This is every author’s least favourite part of book writing, but it’s crucial if we want to make a living. We can’t naïvely rely on word-of-mouth recommendations and luck to play their role (though they certainly do, up to a point).
When I started my Substack in July 2023, I used it as the main place to promote my book. And so I promoted it in almost every post for about a year, building up to its release. I also mentioned it on Facebook.
My millennial and Gen Z friends told me that wasn’t enough. They told me to get active on Instagram.
So I did, last summer, after my book came out, as much as I was able to without feeling icky. Most of the stuff I see there is so cringeworthy and tacky and I’m clearly not the target demographic if that’s how I feel. For a while I did it my way – ironically, taking the piss, self-deprecating humour, showing off what a Luddite I am – but then it got a bit boring and tedious and I couldn’t keep it up. When the mood strikes I can do something, but it’s all so…meh.
And TikTok…oh deary me, not to mention YouTube. I’ve been told to get on BookTok, figure out how it works, all that stuff, but…must I? I see the potential for banter and piss-taking and whatnot but I’m overwhelmed with matters as it is, should I really be adding more social media to my already stretched to-do list?
Yes, if I want to sell more books, they tell me.
It’s amazing what I’ve discovered in my very cursory ‘research’ – this consists of watching a few TikToks or Instagram…reels or posts or stories (still working out the differences) – checking out those catering to a language learning audience. I’ve seen poor language models, shaky pronunciation, questionable advice, and some shocking inaccuracies and misrepresentations. I need to get cracking to rectify some of this crap being fed to language learners.
I’m not sure if I can do much better though. If I can actually figure out how to use these damn things!
In the wake of the TikTok ban and then its reversal, there was talk of TikTok refugees and how it could impact Substack for the better.
offers words of hope :Substack offers an alternative to the frenetic pace of social media:
Scrolling is replaced by reading.
Short viral videos are exchanged for in-depth, long-form content.
Chasing followers, clicks, and views give way to meaningful relationships with subscribers.
The digital migration from TikTok to Substack could have profound effects on our digital culture, reflecting a real-world desire for a more sustainable and meaningful world.
Beyond the attention economy, true power lies in access to individuals
So, why don’t I just ditch all other forms of social media and put all my eggs into the Substack basket?
It appears that much of my target audience – language learners – is still very active on Instagram and even TikTok. That’s because much of my target audience is outside the anglosphere, especially in Ukraine and other parts of Europe, where Substack is still an unknown commodity.
I’ve been half promoting my book, half promoting Substack. But people still seem reluctant to join, and I do get engagement elsewhere, mainly in the form of DMs. I keep on imploring people to check out Substack more, but it’s a slow process. This is why I don’t think I can turn my back on social media.
I’ve spoken to three Ukrainians well in tune to trends in social media and the way millennials and gen Z engage with it. They told me contradictory things. One journalist (who kindly offered to review my book but then ghosted me!) told me to give it time, that Substack is slowly making inroads in Ukraine, and people are warming up to the newsletter model. A former colleague with a huge Instagram following who was very helpful in promoting my book says I need to fully embrace Instagram and TikTok and post multiple times a day. She tells me to forget about Substack for now. And a former student and friend in the PR sphere tells me that actually X/Twitter/Shitter is still a viable destination for promoting and that she’s not sure Substack will ever really become big in Ukraine.
I’m not sure what to believe. There are, after all, some terrific Ukrainian voices on these very pages so I’m inclined to think there is great potential:
(An Ukrainian writer in London), (Yours Ukrainian), (A Personal War), (Wounds and Words), (War, Love, and Survival in Ukraine). These are a mere handful of voices well worth reading (and sorry if I’ve missed you - if there are others out there, please mention them in the comments.)When I met the writer and filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk at the Vienna Book Festival last year and gave her a copy of my book, I had no idea that she would share it on Facebook and that it would lead to hundreds of new followers (and a few book sales – thank you Iryna!). I don’t want to turn my backs on these new followers, many of whom have sent me lovely personal messages. I’d like to encourage them to check out Substack, especially since so many of them are eager to improve their language skills. The more of them I can attract, the more great writers they’ll discover on these pages. It’s not only about me making a living and selling a few more books.
Giving up is easy
If you do decide to quit cold turkey on Meta, Instagram, or wherever,
has an invaluable guide on how to do so in her wonderfully titled post, Break Up with Social Media, but Make it Sexy. She has some questions to guide you:Business owners, you know in your gut, even if you aren’t carefully tracking ROI, whether the amount of time you put into creating a video or a carousel feels commensurate with the amount of business it brings in.
For personal users, how do you feel after a scroll session? Are you bewildered, like you just woke from a coma, because when you started, it wasn’t dark outside, and now it is? Are you more anxious than before because of the feuds, fake news and public shaming, or can you get in, look at some bird pics, and get out unscathed?
Answer this question honestly, and you’ll have all the info you need to decide whether taking the plunge is for you.
The final word
I’m visiting my ‘business consultant’ next week in Germany. He’s a brand marketing guru or whatever the right terminology is. He is also a dear friend and former English teaching colleague from Kyrgyzstan who almost got fired for teaching inappropriate language to his students (and also for generally being a lousy teacher). His advice will no doubt be priceless.
So…TikTok, YouTube and merch here we come! (gulp…)
I finally said goodbye to Instagram yesterday, actually. Not deleting my account, but I’m recognizing that my mindless scrolling has become detrimentally impactful. My grid now displays my branding for my Substack newsletter with a link in my bio directing anyone who may stumble in looking for me over here. We’ll see how it goes.
I feel like social media platforms are decent and healthy places until the ratio of self-expression to monetization tips over towards the latter. Thank you for keeping the raw bits of struggling to pronounce a word or two in your narration. Keeping it real is the best way to be. Priceless.